With Mike Trout, the Los Angeles Angels finished in third place in the AL West. Without him, they would have finished in the same spot.

With Miguel Cabrera, the Detroit Tigers won the AL Central. Without him, there is no way they would have beat out the Chicago White Sox.

So forget WAR. Forget the Triple Crown. Remember this: If the Angels would have finished in the same place with or without Trout, how could he be the league’s most valuable player?

Trout very well could have been the AL’s best player, but that doesn’t make him the most valuable. And until the name of the award is changed to Most Outstanding Player, a team’s success should be considered in this individual award.

Determining the NL MVP actually is more difficult than figuring out the AL’s. It boils down to a battle between two catchers, the San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey and the St. Louis Cardinals’ Yadier Molina.

Posey is expected to win fairly easily while Molina isn’t likely to do any better than third place, with Ryan Braun and Andrew McCutchen expected to finish higher.

But a strong case can be made for Molina. Except for RBIs, his offensive numbers match up with Posey’s. Posey’s 27-RBI advantage can be attributed largely to the fact that he hit almost exclusively in the cleanup spot while Molina took most of his at-bats in the six-hole.

But Molina’s superior defense should make up for more than a couple of dozen RBIs. Posey is a solid defender, but some of his own teammates seemed to prefer pitching to someone else. The next time you find a Cardinals pitcher who would rather throw to someone other than Molina will be the first. They consider him the best at sizing up hitters, calling a game, throwing out runners and blocking pitches.

In addition, Molina caught in 136 games compared to 114 for Posey. That should count for something.

My apologies if this comes across as pooh-poohing Posey. That isn’t the intent. Whoever wins the MVP will be deserving, no matter what you think of the debates.